Ed Miliband’s energy pledge is hot air

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Anyone still doubting the insanity of Ed Miliband’s recent pledge on energy
bills need only read National Grid’s warning yesterday that safety margins,
the difference between peak demand and available supply, are close to half
last year’s levels.

This is due to the race to decarbonise: Britain’s coal-fired generating
capacity this winter will be down by almost a fifth on last winter. The
problem is that the new capacity meant to replace it is not yet built.
Worse, closure of the old coal-fired plants has come as, owing to a collapse
in prices, it is cheap to burn coal. That